漫画大王

Chapter 150

“Take a look at this.”

Across the human territories, there was no place where the name of the royal family did not hold sway. After all, the entirety of the human lands was part of the empire.

As soon as the authenticity of the emblem was verified, we were given a priority pass for the gate without further questions.

The usage fee was also waived, but to avoid any potential issues later, the proper payment was made. Having priority access alone felt like an unfair advantage, let alone getting a fee waiver as well; it just felt wrong to not pay.

“It feels like we’re doing something wrong,” Ellen commented.

I shook my head. “It was given to me to be used in emergency situations, and we’re using it in an emergency situation. How is that a problem?”

If you get down to it, this was precisely an emergency.

Our entire travel plan was about to be disrupted; if this wasn’t an emergency, what was?

Or... Had Charlotte been aware that this would happen when she gave me the imperial crest? Was I overthinking things? There was no way Charlotte could have predicted this, right?

“... Self-brainwashing?”

“... Why would you even bring that up here? And it’s not!”

‘Such a power, such a bearer. You meant it in that sense, didn’t you?!’

And it’s not self-brainwashing, it’s Self-Deception!

“Hey, if you don’t wanna come with me now, you can always follow two days later.”

“... No.”

In the end, Ellen liked the idea as well.

Thanks to the imperial crest, which acted like a VIP pass, Ellen and I were able to bypass all the queues at the subsequent stops and arrived at the Egxian Forward Base in just one day.

***

The Egxian Forward Base was the first base that humans built in the Dark Land.

It was from here that they had advanced during the Great War, and it was through this same place that the armies made their return.

It was both the starting point and the point of return.

That was the Egxian Forward Base.

[New Event Update - Adventure in the Dark Land]

[Description: Complete the adventure in the Dark Land safely.]

[Reward: The reward will vary depending on your achievements. Don’t whine and strive for high achievements.]

To top it all off, an event was triggered, telling us not to be disheartened.

However, the reward for this event was not specified—only a message telling us to achieve a lot.

‘Whine? Would I whine after making it all the way here?’

It was clear they were doing this because they were worried I might turn back early just to collect the reward.

I was frustrated because they might pull something like giving me just one achievement point in the end while claiming that they never promised a big reward. This uncertainty was making me anxious.

Anyway, it wasn’t the right time to worry about it. Worrying meant losing.

“Nothing much is different here.”

“Did you expect the sky to be black because it’s called the ‘Dark’ Land?”

While the sky had been dreary near the Demon King’s castle, here, it seemed no different from any ordinary place. Even while I was at the Demon King’s castle, the surrounding environment had been desolate but the sky had merely been cloudy, which was fairly normal.

“It seems more like a city than a base.”

“It looks like it.”

Most of the military forces had withdrawn, leaving only the bare minimum, and so it felt more fitting to call the place a city rather than a base. What had once been a massive military outpost had now turned into a hotspot for adventurers flocking to the area.

The buildings scattered around looked no different from those in the other cities we had passed through so far.

But the people were different.

If the soldiers were uniformly armed, the people here were armed in various ways.

Since most of them were adventurers, they were equipped with lighter armor instead of heavy armor, which was a notable difference compared to the soldiers.

With fewer civilians and an influx of newcomers, this city was entirely different from any we had encountered before. It was, in essence, a city of adventurers.

“Let’s go to the Adventurers’ Guild.”

“Let’s go.”

The Great War had ended at the beginning of the year.

It had been barely half a year since the end of the war, and so exploration of the Dark Land had only just begun to see a boom. Adventurers hoping for a quick fortune were just starting to pour in. The exploration of the Dark Land was still very much in its infancy.

For this reason, both veteran adventurers and novices aspiring to make a name for themselves were swarming to the Egxian Forward Base.

As adventurers—who were essentially new arrivals—flooded in, it was only natural for the hospitality business to grow to accommodate them, for traders selling equipment and supplies to gather, and for the entertainment industry to develop to cater to those adventurers who struck it rich.

And wherever quick fortunes were made, the darker parts of society—those looking to cheat that money away—would also grow. There would be gambling dens and thieves aplenty.

The city’s rapid expansion was evident not just from the influx of people but also from the countless buildings that were under construction.

With all this going on, it was only natural that the Adventurers’ Guild was crowded with individuals looking to register as new adventurers.

Becoming an adventurer required no specific qualifications or criteria.

Anyone could become an adventurer.

However, everyone started at the lowest rank, F, and had to work their way up based on their accomplishments. Naturally, F-rank adventurers receive no support whatsoever from the guild.

An F-rank adventurer’s license offered no rights or privileges. Thus, issuing them liberally was not a problem. The Adventurers’ Guild did not seem to manage the adventurers beyond merely registering them. Perhaps it couldn’t even if it wanted to.

When I had initially arrived at the imperial capital, I’d wondered what things adventurers in this world would be up to. And now, after all this time, here I was, embarking on the path of an adventurer myself.

The irony of life’s unpredictable turns...

The process for acquiring the license was very simple, so we didn’t have to wait long before we were issued adventurer’s licenses that looked somewhat similar to identification cards.

Both Ellen and I were now of F rank.

“...”

At the bustling Adventurers’ Guild counter, Ellen stood in a daze. Even after our business was concluded, she seemed unable to move.

I knew why.

At the opposite end of Ellen’s gaze were photographs, hanging on the wall. They were large, and hung at a considerable height.

Each photograph was labeled with a name underneath.

[Adventurer’s Guild Hall of Fame]

[Ragdna Olpi]

[Sheyden]

[Ragan Artorius]

[Mulern]

[Seizaria]

Among the five photographs hung the picture of Ragan Artorius.

These were the five heroes who defeated the Demon King.

They, too, had been adventurers.

The highest rank for adventurers was SS.

After the Great War, the Adventurers’ Guild had upgraded their ranks to that of legendary status. It was a rank that had not previously existed.

They had become the greatest adventurers in history, and achieved a status similar to sports heroes whose jersey numbers had been retired.

Ellen stood there, staring endlessly at the photograph of her brother who had become a legend among adventurers.

I wondered what was going through her mind.

At the very least, she didn’t seem proud.

***

There was no real need to increase our adventurer ranks. After all, adventuring was just something for us to do during this month-long holiday, after which it would be set aside.

For Ellen and me, registering as adventurers was a minor matter. It would be a bonus if what we did somehow also made us some money.

Therefore, instead of taking on quests before heading out, we would be heading out first, and if we found something noteworthy, we would report it to the guild later to receive payment.

Of course, if any rather appealing quest appeared, it wouldn’t hurt to undertake it.

I couldn’t tell if Ellen was emotional about starting her own journey from the same point as her brother.

“To go to Saints Point, we need to take a carriage.”

“Yeah.”

Since this wasn’t the imperial capital, there were no trams or magical trains. We had to resort to more primitive means of transportation.

When we reached Saints Point, we were supposed to casually bump into Eleris at the prearranged spot and then join forces. From there, we could either get jobs through the Adventurers’ Guild branch in Saints Point or wander as we pleased.

Ellen and I headed to the nearby carriage station, where carriages bound for various destinations were lined up.

“We’d like to go to Saints Point.”

“Ah, then take this one. The price is two silver coins per person.”

Ellen paid him four silver coins, and we boarded the transport compartment of the carriage.

“We’ll depart once we have one more passenger!”

It seemed the departure times weren’t fixed, and each carriage would only depart once fully occupied. Besides Ellen and I, there were five other people inside the carriage.

I could clearly see them sneaking glances at Ellen.

“Oh my, is that young lady going to be an adventurer already?”

“...?”

Ellen tilted her head in confusion, caught off-guard by the sudden question.

“Do you even have the strength to wield a sword?”

“Arthur, she seems like a noble lady; what if she gets hurt?”

“Looks like the little one is joining her as well! Are you her guard?”

“Hahahaha!”

It was unclear if they all knew each other, but they clearly found it peculiar to see two young kids in a place where adventurers gathered. They assumed the noble girl I was with was play-acting as an adventurer, and pegged me as her escort.

The irony... To be honest, between the two of us, she was the fiercer one. In a pinch, she’d be the one protecting me.

Tap, tap.

“Be careful, kid. It’s not as easy here as you might think.”

A man who appeared to be in his thirties sitting next to me tapped my shoulder with his palm, which was as large as a pot lid. Whether he was a veteran or not, I was slightly irked by his attitude.

Indeed, by appearance alone, Ellen and I did seem like noobs, and in reality, we were. Remembering Charlotte’s warning about how my temper could potentially cause trouble for Ellen, I decided to endure this unwarranted intrusion and move on.

I didn’t want any unnecessary fights.

This wasn’t the Temple. Both Ellen and I were carrying swords, and so were these people.

A disagreement here wouldn’t end in a mere fistfight.

“Whew!” Soon, the last passenger boarded. “Hello, everyone!”

He was a young man with dark blue hair and a gentle expression.

Adventurers, as seemed to be the custom, exchanged brief greetings despite not knowing each other.

—Alright then, we’re off!

Once the coachman made his announcement, the carriage rumbled and started moving.

Having been accustomed to the smooth rides of magical trains, the jolting of the carriage felt unfamiliar.

Ellen was sitting across from me, and the young man, the last passenger, was sitting next to me.

“Wow, I never thought I’d see someone who looks even younger than me here. Hello, there!”

He offered his hand with a friendly smile, and I felt compelled to shake it without much reason to refuse.

“Oh, hello.”

“I’m Daria Austin. And you?”

“Reinhart.”

“How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

The man next to me kept trying to strike up a conversation in annoying fashion.

But as the saying goes, you can’t spit in the face of a smile, and he didn’t seem to mean any harm despite me finding it a nuisance, so I couldn’t just tell him to be quiet.

I didn’t want to sour my relationship with the person sitting next to me for the unknown number of hours it would take to reach Saints Point.

Austin mentioned that he was twenty that year. He mumbled something about his surprise that there were people even younger than him starting out, and how he thought that he’d started at a fairly young age himself.

“Are you two traveling together?”

“Yes.”

Upon learning that Ellen and I were companions, Austin slowly nodded his head.

“Do you want to join our group then? We have some members waiting for us in Saints Point. It’ll be safer to move together. There’s a B-rank adventurer in our group, a real veteran. It’ll be safe if you follow their lead. I’m still an F-rank, though.”

Austin proposed that joining them could help Ellen and I gain some experience.

“No, thank you.”

However, Ellen flatly refused him, seemingly without giving it a second thought. Austin scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed at the pointed refusal.

“My companion prefers not to,” I said.

“Ah, I see...”

“Hey buddy, you’re pestering them too obviously.”

“No, it’s not like that...”

The men sitting nearby jeered, causing Austin’s face to turn red. It seemed he had indeed taken a particular interest in Ellen.

Austin and the other adventurers who had been in the carriage before us also shared stories that contained, amidst their trivial banter, information that was worth paying attention to.

“The regions north of Egxian are still tough, right?”

“Yeah. No one returns from there safely.”

“What’s even out there?”

“Don’t know. Heard there’s an orc settlement, and talk about goblin hordes too.”

“Didn’t a squad of about fifty head out to conduct a purge recently?”

“All missing.”

“Sheesh... Must be something huge out there.”

The conversation mainly revolved around the area to the north of the Egxian Forward Base, which was known at that time as the most dangerous region in the vicinity.

Saints Point, situated on the eastern advance route, was relatively safe compared to other areas.

Most adventurers heading north out of Egxian did not make it back.

“What about the south?”

“That’s all forests, they say. Nothing much there.”

“I went down there for over a week, and it’s just forest. How is that any different from a desert?”

“Well, there’s a rumor that it’s not really a forest but a kind of barrier. Like a maze.”

“Why would there be a barrier out there, in the middle of nowhere?”

“No one knows.”

“That’s not it. The place used to be a dragon graveyard and got cursed or something...”

There were many rumors and ghost stories about the place, making it impossible for anyone to discern the truth.

I thought that some event might trigger, but that didn’t happen.

Too many baseless rumors only served to obscure any real understanding.

After leaving the forward base, the carriage followed one of the old routes that the allied forces had used to make their advance. The surrounding landscape did not seem all that unusual.

“It makes you quite curious, doesn’t it? They call it the Dark Land, but it’s not particularly dark,” Austin murmured absentmindedly as he looked out at the landscape unfolding behind the carriage.

It wasn’t dark. In fact, it didn’t seem that much different from the human world. The vast expanse of scenery unfolding before us even looked beautiful in its own way.

Yet people called it the Dark Land.

“Indeed.”

That response came not from me, but from Ellen.

Austin seemed a little surprised that Ellen had answered him.

Clop, Clop, Clop.

The carriage moved along slowly, its rhythmic rocking bringing back old memories.

‘This...’

It felt like when I was back in the Korean military, riding in the back of a two-ton truck.

The whole situation was incredibly uncomfortable, yet sleep came so easily.

In the moment between wakefulness and sleep, Ellen called out to me softly.

“Reinhart.”

“...?”

As soon as I looked at her, I sensed something, even though I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why.

Her eyes were calmer than usual.

Eyes filled with resolution.

By now, I could tell what she was thinking just by looking into her eyes.

Clop... Clop...

The carriage began to slow down.

There was no reason for it to slow down, yet it did.

“Be careful of the people.”

That was what Ellen’s eyes were saying.

The surroundings had already changed. We had veered off the wide road, and were surrounded by densely-packed trees.

We seemed to be heading into a secluded area.

Inside the carriage, I could see the adventurers casually placing their hands on their weapons while pretending to be calm.

They were sneaking glances our way as if waiting for the right time.

“Be careful of the people.”

The moment was already upon us.

Had they been making idle conversation while actually sizing us up?

A chill ran down my spine.

Thump!

“Ugh!”

The next moment, I saw Ellen ruthlessly jab the hilt of her sword into the solar plexus of the person seated next to her.

“H-Huh?!”

“Wh-What!”

Before they could make their move, Ellen had launched a preemptive attack. The adventurers seated inside seemed surprised, apparently not expecting such a turn of events.

That was especially true for Austin, who was shocked by the sudden commotion.

Everything became clear then.

Austin wasn’t part of their scheme.

I used my supernatural power to enhance my physical abilities.

The type I chose: close combat.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Following Ellen’s example, I jabbed the person seated next to me in the ribs with the hilt of my weapon.

I didn’t know what these people intended to do.

But, if we acted first, nothing could happen to us.

This was the Dark Land.

A place beyond the reach of the law.

Here, the first strike was the only justice.